Mann urges PM to ban diclofenac to protect vulture species

Chandigarh, Oct 12 (UNI) Senior Akali leader Simranjit Singh Mann urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to fulfill his promise of banning veterinary drug diclofenac sodium to prevent vultures from getting extinct.

''Dr Singh had promised some time back that the UPA government would ban this veterinary drug diclofenac sodium, which kills our winged friends. But it had not been been done so far,'' he wrote on the website of his party Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar).

''So if the vultures are showing signs of surviving, could we all persuade the Prime Minister to deliver on his promise and assurance?'' Mr Mann pointed out the vultures feed on the carcasses of domesticated animals who have heavy doses of diclofenac that destroys the liver and kidneys of these birds.

He opined that if the vultures would re-emerge, it could be happy news for the Parsi community as they, having a Zoroastrian faith, put the dead atop the Tower of Silence to be eaten by the vultures.

''With return of the birds the dead of the Parsis would start to be disposed according to their old custom,'' he added.

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